WARNING: READ THE BELOW DOWN TO THE GREEN LINE OF TEXT
Read this bit. After the green text, you can continue scrolling. This is breif. I usually like to stay silly on this blog, but this is important. Like the end of our world important type shit. So please read this or at the very least, reblog it. Skip my bit if you need to, or even just reblog the original bit. My writing is less important here.
For my tiny little contributions, I'll try my best to put the situation into perspective in layman's terms, so if you want a simplified version, but not to a degree of downplaying the problem, mine will try to comply. I will warn you: this is not a substitute for the above. If what you read here worries you: stop reading my post and go to the original post, because you should be worried and you need to be properly informed.
It begins on the next line.
I'm not claiming I'm the smartest wet mouse in the bag, but I like to consider myself one particulate of competent and knowledgeable enough about politics to understand a red flag. This is coming from someone whose entire brand is being a dumbass, so trust me when I say, I don't think I'm smarter than you. I'm not talking down to you. If anything, I'm talking to a peer or up to you.
So, of course, right after saying I don't think I'm smarter than you; let's talk about my favorite book of all time and the subject of everyone who thinks they're smarter than you: 1984
For context, I've read this book 10 times and counting. This is my autistic comfort place.
Y'know, 1984, right? The 1984 everyone keeps spouting about and constantly and incorrectly pointing to whenever they don't agree with a politics?
Because the above is 1984 happening to us.
This one thing is the 1984, and I'm dead serious about it.
Yes, 1984 talks about censorship being bad.
Yes, 1984 talks about the government being bad.
Yes, 1984 talks about a giant talking head that's at the forefront of everything also being bad.
But 1984 isn't just a "here's what bad stuff to not like about politics"
1984 is about the eradication of anonymity, and if that doesn't run your blood cold, you need to double check and see if your url is your first and last name or not. Because if it is: change it, and if it isn't, with this it might as well be.
A death of anonymity goes far beyond just "oops, people know my name now ecks dee" and it affects every person. "Oh but I don't use my real name online!" Doesn't matter. Is your phone connected to wifi? Do you have your location turned on on it? Did you access tumblr at work and then back at home at any point in time? Have you ever left your phone unlocked while talking shit about the government? Do you own an Amazon echo? If the answer is yes to any of this, then under this renewal, you could lose your anonymity.
All your fetishes. All your shit talking. All your bad mouthing. All your confidence. All your wrong answers. All of this will be tied to your name and a picture of your face and viewable by the government. And if a group of unpaid geeks can find a person who lives on the other side of the world with nothing but a picture of his face in a decade or so without this technology, imagine how quickly the taxpayers backed government armed with this kind of technology could find where you sleep at night.
Feeling aptly up to speed on being scared? Good, it gets worse.
1984 is about the monitoring and systematic filing of every citizen under the government's power. 1984 is about the government knowing specifically who they are governing down to the single person. 1984 is about the government knowing who you are and what you are doing, and whether it is what they want you to be doing or not. Whether that's war crimes, abortions, masturbating, talking bad about the police or government officials, taking gods name in vain, saying bigoted or racist things, or even just not supporting whatever party is in office right now.
If the Democrats decided they wanted to eradicate all Republicans in one fell swoop, they'd know exactly which houses had sheep's blood over the mantle and which didn't, and it works vice versa.
If the Republicans decided they wanted to find every single lqbtqa+ person/supporter and send a hit man to their households, they could do that.
This isn't a devisive political problem anymore. Both sides should be worried about this. This isn't "ooh, the republicans/democrats are against this, so we should be for it!" No, this is the political equivalent to the atomic bomb being created. This is the societal ultimate nulifier in play here.
If the government continues to get access to things like this, it will be taking another step closer to a line drawn in the sand a long time ago, one that every position of power starts a mile away from and will eventually cross if left unmanaged. Crossing this line is how governments topple. Not because we'd revolt. Not because they'd be overthrown. In fact, likely, neither of those would happen. It would no longer be a government because, simply, what they would be doing wouldn't be a government any longer.
That isn't governing the people. That's ruling with an iron fist.
And say what you will about the government; but a shitty government is far better than a regime.
Go read the top post. Go get informed. Go stop this from happening with me.
